After reading the last three chapters of the book, I can't help but be disappointed. When John gives into the ceremony, I could tell there was no good to come from it. John is so disappointed with himself that he believes he has no other choice than to end his own life. He is filled with guilt from all he has done and the fact that nothing has been the way he hoped has affected him greatly. I was hopeful in the beginning, for a great overthrow of power but now I am left to deal with this terrible ending.
When John was first introduced to the distribution of soma, he was bewildered. He was confused at everyone's rushed actions and where they were going. John was forgot about for a while which made me wonder if this would be what his life would be like if he hadn't come from the reservation. I think throughout John's life he has been regarded as different than others and at some point he is going to have to accept it.
In this chapter, Thomas learns things that really upset him. He expects to find Helmholtz at the door and when Lenina is there, it is a pleasant surprise. He is very delighted to see her and get to know her better. Then Lenina comes onto John way too strong and he realizes that she is a whore. This really angers him and brings out a side we haven't had much insight to. He starts getting physical in a mean way and Lenina is genuinely scared. When Lenina is hiding in the bathroom, John gets a call that deepens his sadness. His mother is ill and dying.
When chapter 11 rolls around, we see Bernard's character change for the worse. He begins acting like the other characters in the book and confroming to the ways he was totally against. An interesting thought brought to light was that once people are used to John, Bernard's popularity will be diminished. It's like today's world and the fact that when things go out of style, people forget about it soon after and move on to greater things.
In chapter 9, we see John quote from Romeo and Juliet and have empathy for this boy who is trying to find love from the eyes of shakespeare. The quote outlines the purity of Juliet and how perfect of a woman she is. He is reflecting Juliet's character onto Lenina's and in this comparisons, I find many flaws. For one, Lenina is not a pure woman who has saved herself for anyone nor wants to be with one single man.
While chapter 6 had lots of interesting points and thought provoking ideas, the thing that stood out most to me was this idea of being free. Bernard asked Lenina if she wanted to be free, and she was very confused by this question. She doesn't understand this concept of being free and why anyone would want to be a part of any other society. While being free is a very important part of being an American, this society has no reference to such s feeling of freedom.
Chapter 4 brought only a few thoughts to my mind, and did not give a lot of insight as to what is to come. The thing that stood out to me most was the modesty in Bernard talking to Lenina. When she approached him and began talking about the the trip they are taking and if he wanted to have her, he was very embarrassed. I thought this reflected onto today's world and how Lenina did the complete opposite of what most people would do today.
After reading chapter two, I could not wrap my head around the bizarre happenings. My heart was heavy even though I knew it wasn't truly happening. The eight month old babies were brought into the room on carts and we're presented with a flower and a book. The babies were immediately attracted to these things and could not help but grab them. The first screeching alarm went off, making the babies bawl, then another button was pushed and their bodies started twitching from the electrical currents running through them. When this exercise finished, we heard of a boy who was tested on sleep learning. This was a very thought provoking method that I thought would work. However, the child only knows the exact phrase that is read to him and doesn't gain knowledge from it. This chapter worried me a bit, but it is very interesting and I am excited to read more.
After reading the first chapter in Brave New World, I was very perplexed. Many minutes later, I was trying to decipher the strange words I read and piece together the odd events that occurred. When reading, I can often picture the actions and events, but with this book, I couldn't and that made me very frustrated. The people in the book seem to be formal with each other and very intelligent. I find the actions however, to be very inhumane. One thing I picked up on was the withholding of oxygen for certain embryo's, and this made me queezy. I am looking forward to finding out more about the
people behind all of this and if there is a possibility of this occurring in our future. |